Hounslow
Description Full Name: Unknown, goes by the handle "Hounslow" Age: 27 Birthday: Unknown Gender: Male Race: Caucasian Nationality: British Hair: Brown Eyes: Blue Height: 5'9" Weight: ??? Hounslow appears as a slim, athletic man in his early twenties, dressed in a loose fitting hoody and khakis: his demeanour doesn't exactly scream "Virtual Adept". Whilst he can handle computer stuff, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he'd rather be running around the London skyline. Hounslow is of course not his real name. As with many Virtual Adepts, he's adopted a handle. He chose 'Hounslow' because it was a part of London that he's never visited and he seems to find that amusing. Profile Essence: Primordial Nature: Avant-Garde Demeanour: Thrill-Seeker Faction: Traditions Tradition: Virtual Adepts Affiliation: Reality Coders Rank: Hacker Paradigm: Rewriting the file properties of the universe's data, as a Sleeper programmer rewrites mundane code. Cabal: The Arnold Circus Gang Stats Attributes * Physical: Strength 2, Dexterity 5 (Lightning Reflexes), Stamina 3 * Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 2 * Mental: Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 3 Abilities * Talents: Alertness 3, Athletics 4 (Parkour), Awareness 3, Brawl 2, Dodge 3, Intimidation 2, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 1 * Skills: Firearms 2, Melee 2, Stealth 2 * Knowledges: Computer 3, Enigmas 2, Investigation 3, Linguistics 1 (Programming) Spheres * Correspondence 4 * Matter 3 * Mind 2 * Life 2 Backgrounds * Arcane 1 * Resources 2 * Wonder 4 Arete 4 Willpower 5 Paradox 0 Resonance * Dynamic (Ricocheting) * Entropic (Damaged) * Static (Cybernetic) Merits & Flaws Merits * Acute Sense (Hearing) * Ambidextrous * Catlike Balance Flaws * Slow Healing Backgrounds Resources: Hyperspace Arsenal * The Hyperspace Arsenal is the rather fancy term that Hounslow gives to a secure armoury that he has collected for his missions. Using a Correspondence/Matter rote named "Access.exe" Hounslow is able to retrieve or deposit items from the Hyperspace Arsenal no matter where he is in relation to it, which allows him tremendous flexibility in combat situations. Currently pride of place in the Arsenal is reserved for the powerful artifact sword Professor Pete created for Hounslow, which he has nicknamed "EXE-Calibur". Wonder: Sub-Dermal Rig * As much a work of art as a piece of kit, the Sub-Dermal Rig is the skeletal/neurological machinery that allows Hounslow to walk despite the crippling injuries that he received during his awakening. More than this though it also includes the onboard computer systems that he uses as his foci and in desperate situations can act defensively by using its nanotechnology to rapidly alter the properties of his clothing and effectively turn it into armour. Arcane * His extensive practice with Correspondence magic, his annonymous style of dress and Hounslow's talents at evading detection combine to make spotting Hounslow a rather difficult prospect. Avatar * Until very recently Hounslow's Avatar was a reflection of his own ideas about what his awakening meant. Having been rather confused at the time he labored for a while under the impression that his Avatar was something that the Virtual Adepts had implanted in him, and consequently on the brief occasions that it was visible it appeared as a swirling cloud of binary numbers. However now that he has apparently impressed it, his Avatar is taking a more direct interest in his activities and has revealed to him that it actually has a far more threatening appearence... Biography Hounslow was recruited by the Reality Coders following a free-running accident that occurred when he had his awakening mid-jump and the resulting fall paralysed him. Having since been patched up with a sub-dermal rig he is once again able to walk, run and do the frankly stupid stunts that he loves so much. Hounslow works for the Reality Coders as a real world operative, breaking into offices that contain high priority/security networks that are proving difficult to hack into, neutralising real world threats to Virtual Adept interests and even on occasion acting as a bodyguard to the less physically able mages of his faction. His opinions on the other traditions: The Sons of Ether have nearly got it right. Unfortunately they're still trying to work within the world around us, rather than recognise that the best course of action would just be to restart the world from scratch as the Virtual Adepts intend to do with Reality 2.0. The rest of the Traditions he's not so sure about. The majority mean well enough but obviously aren't even close to being on the right path to saving mankind. The Celestial Chorus are just idiots though. Hounslow is in London at the start of 2012 because this is where he's been assigned to work. The Reality Coders have a presence there and since Hounslow spent most of his pre-awakened life living there, it was decided that he'd be a part of this presence. He is one of three Virtual Adepts working in London at the minute. The other two being his boss Earls Court and his coworker Black Friars, who it seems share his weird taste in names even if they are more traditional Virtual Adepts than he is. There was previously a fourth member of their cell who went by the name Golders Green. He turned traitor though and nearly killed Black Friars when she uncovered his treachery. It was only Earls Court's intervention that saved her and he was severely injured in the fight. Hounslow himself was not present for this as he was infiltrating a Technocracy affiliated security firm and had to be off the grid for the duration of that mission. Neither Black Friars or Earls Court will talk to him about the incident and he doesn't even know if Golders Green is still alive. Or indeed who it was that he betrayed them to. Throughout the summer of 2012 Hounslow has become caught up in a number of schemes and plots. He's done his best to fight these conspiracies and protect the interests of the Virtual Adepts and the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire. In fact Hounslow first met Professor Pete and Aniko when the three of them found themselves caught up in the manifestation of a sinister Umbrood known as the Hanged King. More recently Hounslow has been a key player in fighting the machinations of an unholy trinity of Nephandi; the Triumvirate of Consummate Sin. The Summer of Sin Three Nephandi known as "The Ashen Duke", "The Iron Tyrant" and "The Silver Smile" have conspired to bring about the downfall of London. The Cabal's investigations have revealed that the three are corrupted souls reborn into the world in strange and paradoxical ways; they don't necessarily like or care for each other, but the rebirth of one has historically been associated with the rebirth of all. Hounslow aided Pete and Billy in fighting the Ashen Duke at a rave; the dark mage harnessing the angry emotional charge of the crowd there to try and corrupt the node at what would ultimately become the Cabal's Chantry. Pete was able to kill the Ashen Duke at the time, but later information gleaned from Alanna Wildwind's encounter with the Silver Smile has revealed that he may well have planned for this eventuality. At the same time as the Ashen Duke was being dealt with, the Iron Tyrant was exerting his influence over the London Underground. Horrific bio-organic tumours spread through the network to link up great sources of quintessence and pull it towards his lair. With the aid of an Akashic master (who played a metaphysical game of Go with the underground as its board), the Cabal was able to track down the Tyrant to his lair and saw the terrifying scope of his schemes: three leylines had been torn out of their natural course and flooded his home with power. Divided and toyed with due to the Tyrant's absolutely mastery of Correspondence magic, the Cabal was eventually able to confront him directly. Though this was far from easy and required the Mages to essentially vandalise the junctions and devices that the Nephandi was using to power his scheme. Throughout all of this they were relentlessly being attacked by the poor mutilated souls that the Tyrant had reworked into his own sick image. Of these poor souls one in particular stood out to Hounslow. His body hollowed out and replaced with the Tyrant's tumour like technology, Golder's Green was being forced to act as the Nephandi's servant. Golders Green was not a traitor to the Adepts by choice, and even now he was trying to help Hounslow by dropping him clues wherever he could. As the damage to his infrastructure mounted up the Iron Tyrant began to lose his cool. His rage only built as Hounslow taunted him, seeking to infuriate the vastly more powerful being to hopefully make him careless. This rage resulted in the Tyrant lashing out and killing Golders Green, giving Hounslow's friend the only escape that he could have had from the Tyrant's grasp. The Cabal confronted the Tyrant at the top of his building (the Tyrant was masquerading as the CEO of London Underground); employing careful tactics to disrupt his bodyguard and distract the Tyrant by manipulating his rage. Even so it was a terrifying battle, the Tyrant crippling four members of the group with one spell. Ultimately Hounslow was able to land the finishing blow on the Nephandi, making his sword exist in multiple spaces so that he could multiply his attack force enough to overcome the Tyrant's defences. This caught the Nephandi offguard, Alanna had convinced the Tyrant to focus his anger on her and Pete had managed to stun him by shooting him directly in the Avatar. The Tyrant was felled and Hounslow recovered Golders Green's body. But Pete had vanished into the Umbra, someone had taken him. And even so there were two Nephandi remaining in London and the group was now standing in the remains of a building. They retreated to lick their wounds and figure out how to find their missing friend. Seekings During his yearly software upgrading Hounslow finds that he has come to the attention of a rather unusual program in a virtual training room. Taking the form of a Chimera it ruthlessly attacks Hounslow and mocks him for showing fear. This confuses Hounslow because he isn't afraid at all; in fact he's having a fantastic time evading its attacks and enjoys himself even more when it makes the world around them start collapsing and he has to leap from piece to piece. Whilst avoiding the beast Hounslow passes through a firewall and has a rather self-reflective experience as he chases down a shining mote of data. After passing several challenging jumps and obstacles to keep up with the mote, Hounslow then finds himself confronted with a rendition of an armoured giant that has absorbed it. Besting the giant only when he starts to rely on his magic rather than his physical gifts, Hounslow retrieves the mote and realises that it is essentially an extension of his soul (Arete 4 now unlocked). Returning to the Chimera to attempt to settle things with the beastly program, Hounslow discovers that it is not in actual fact a program. It's the true form of his avatar; an ancient primordial being that has begun to take an interest in him now that he's becoming more aware of what it really means to be a mage. Quiets Hounslow has not yet suffered any Quiets. Personality Hounslow is generally confident and eager for action. Whilst he believes whole-heartedly in the Virtual Adepts cause of Reality 2.0, he doesn't think that his contribution to it will come from behind a desk. He is a thrill seeker and proud of it. Though in more serious situations he will tone this down for the good of his mission. He is after all also a soldier in the middle of a war for reality itself. He hasn't been afraid of anything since his accident and the fear that he would be paralysed for the rest of his life. Any attempt to make him afraid since then has only resulted in him being either amused or angry. Usually though he is very slow to anger, preferring to seem relaxed and at ease at all times. He is very protective of those people that he's decided to acknowledge as friends. Which is just as well since the number of people that meet that criteria is very low. As slow as he is to anger though he is just as slow to forgive. When someone earns his emnity it is earned for life. Paradigm Magic, as far as Hounslow is concerned, is an alteration of the fundamental programming of reality. The world can in essence be viewed as being a rather complex computer, and as such it is susceptible to having its properties altered if you have the tools to access it correctly. Foci * Correspondence - glasses * Matter - gloves * Mind - hood * Life - emulator Category:Mage Category:Characters